眠 (mián): to sleep, to hibernate
眠 (mián) is a Chinese character meaning “to sleep.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 目 (semantic) and 民 (phonetic). It ranks #1959 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 眠 eye. Its radical form 目 (eye) appears in many related characters such as 看 (kàn, to look, to see), 真 (zhēn, really), 着 (zhe, -ing, to wear).
Definitions
- to sleep
- to hibernate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 眠 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 眠
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 催眠verb | cuī mián | to lull to sleep |
| 安眠药noun | ān mián yào | sleeping pill |
| 冬眠verb | dōng mián | to hibernate |
| 入眠verb | rù mián | to fall asleep |
| 长眠verb | cháng mián | (euphemism) to rest eternally |
| 催眠术noun | cuī mián shù | hypnotism |
| 休眠verb | xiū mián | (biology) dormant |
| 安眠verb | ān mián | to sleep peacefully |
| 彻夜不眠 | chè yè bù mián | to be sleepless all night |
| 催眠曲noun | cuī mián qǔ | lullaby |
| 催眠药noun | cuī mián yào | soporific drug |
| 永眠verb | yǒng mián | to pass away |
| 夜不成眠 | yè bù chéng mián | to be unable to sleep at night |
| 一夜无眠 | yī yè wú mián | to have a sleepless night |
| 不眠不休phrase | bù mián bù xiū | without stopping to sleep or have a rest (idiom) |
眠 appears in 36 compound words: 0 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 39 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 眠 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
lit. I'm drunk and would like to sleep (idiom); (used to indicate one's sincere and straightforward nature)
Example Sentences
这个眠字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě mián zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "眠" had different meanings in classical Chinese.
...一次做ae一般多少秒正常?蓝光辐射影响睡眠质量进而伤内分泌吗
. . . yī cì zuò a e yī bān duō shǎo miǎo zhèng cháng ? lán guāng fú shè yǐng xiǎng shuì mián zhì liàng jìn ér shāng nèi fēn mì ma
... How many seconds is normal to do AE at a time? Does blue light radiation affect sleep quality and damage endocrine?
...厨大马男子 战火阴影笼罩上班心神不宁夜难眠
. . . chú dà mǎ nán zǐ zhàn huǒ yīn yǐng lóng zhào shàng bān xīn shén bù nìng yè nán mián
... Chef Malaysian man The shadow of war shrouded me in work, restless at night
不硬怎么办可以恢复?睡眠不足会显着降低夜间勃起频率吗
bù yìng zěn má bàn kě yǐ huī fù ? shuì mián bù zú huì xiǎn zhe jiàng dī yè jiān bó qǐ pín lǜ ma
What if it is not hard to recover? Does sleep deprivation significantly reduce the frequency of erections at night?
头孢停药三天能饮酒?车厘子含褪黑素可助眠?科学流言榜最新辟谣
tóu 孢 tíng yào sān tiān néng yǐn jiǔ ? chē lí zǐ hán 褪 hēi sù kě zhù mián ? kē xué liú yán bǎng zuì xīn pì yáo
Can you drink alcohol after stopping cephalosporin medication for three days? Can cherries contain melatonin to help you sleep? The latest rumors on the scientific rumor list
长期睡眠不足、小心病痛一起来!“5个方法”助你安...
cháng qī shuì mián bù zú , xiǎo xīn bìng tòng yī qǐ lái ! 5 gè fāng fǎ zhù nǐ ān . . .
Long-term lack of sleep, be careful of illness and come together!" 5 ways to "help you...
溪流潺潺，催我入眠。
Xīliú chánchán, cuī wǒ rùmián.
The murmur of the brook lulls me to sleep.
蟋蟀的叫声与蛙鸣催我入眠。
Xīshuài de jiàoshēng yǔ wā míng cuī wǒ rùmián.
The sound of crickets chirping and frogs croaking lulls me to sleep.
睡眠是最大的小偷，它偷了我们一半的生命。
Shuìmián shì zuì dà de xiǎotōu, tā tōu le wǒmen yībàn de shēngmìng.
Sleep is the greatest thief, for it steals half one's life.
她在睡眠中安详地去世了。
Tā zài shuìmián zhōng ānxiáng de qùshì le.
She passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 目 (eye) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 眠 (mián) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 眠 have?
What is the radical of 眠?
What are the components of 眠?
What are common words containing 眠?
What characters sound the same as 眠 (mián)?
Is 眠 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 眠 with real-time feedback
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